Free Republic

What happens when someone with no executive experience takes over the toughest executive job in the world? Since we’ve not seen that situation in most of our lifetimes — even John Kennedy, the last President elected with no executive experience in government or the private sector, had some command experience in the Navy — we had little hard evidence to predict failure to manage the executive branch of the US government, but it was rather easy to presume that on-the-job training at that level would be problematic, to say the least. Today, the Washington Post reports that even Barack Obama’s...

If you aren't a Wall Street Journal subscriber, you should be so you can read Daniel Henniger's column on today's edition. Trust me, this column alone is worth the price of a subscription because it highlights two things - just how truly radical is President Obama's recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick and what the GOP must do in response if voters return them to the House majority in November. First, Berwick truly is the disciple of centralized planning. Read these quotes from the guy, which Henninger included in his column today, and the conclusion is inescapable - Berwick loves...

In Cincinnati tomorrow, President Obama will announce that he's appointing Ron Bloom his Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy, White House sources tell ABC News. Bloom is currently Senior Advisor to Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner as a member of the President’s Task Force on the Automotive Industry, named to that position in February. He will remain in that position even while he takes on his new task. A key part of the team that advised the White House on the struggling U.S. auto industry, Bloom and team pushed U.S. automakers General Motors and Chrysler to come up with viable...

(IsraelNN.com) United States President-elect Barack Obama said he will appoint a team immediately after his inauguration on Tuesday to address on "Day One" the crisis in Gaza, as well as other troubles across the Middle East. "We've got a regional set of problems," Obama said in an interview with USA Today, noting the challenges in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan in addition to the war over the Land of Israel. "They're not going to be solved in isolation. And we've got to be active in all these areas in order for us to be successful in any of these areas." According...

LOS ANGELES In his bid for more power over public schools, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is set to appoint a veteran educator to a post designed to ease tensions between City Hall and public school officials opposed to the plan, the Los Angeles Times reported. Ramon C. Cortines, who served six months as interim superintendent of the L.A. Unified school district in 2000, is scheduled to be named deputy mayor for education, youth and families Tuesday. Cortines did not say whether he supports state legislation that would grant Villaraigosa say in district management a proposal that has drawn fire from the...

Linda Adams will be named director of the California Environmental Protection Agency today by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an administration source said. "With more than 30 years of service to the state … Linda Adams is eminently qualified to serve as secretary for the Cal-EPA," said Bill Maile, spokesman on environmental issues for the governor's office. Adams, 57, a Democrat who has won praise from environmentalists, worked in high-ranking jobs for both state Controller Steve Westly and Gov. Gray Davis, and ran the state Department of Water Resources, among other positions. Westly is running against Treasurer Phil Angelides in the Democratic...

This old language is a tough read, so I'm gonna add some bolded headings which quickly summarize the paragraphs that follow. Maybe this helps, maybe not. To the People of the State of New York: Hamilton quotes Article 2 THE President is "to nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not otherwise provided for in the Constitution. But the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as...

Rome (AsiaNews) – Mgr John Gao Kexian, unofficial Bishop of Yantai died in the evening of January 24 2005 in a hospital in the city of Bingzhou (Shandong). He had been in prison for the previous five years. His body was cremated and buried the day following his death in the presence of police officers. No relative or faithful were allowed to attend the event. The Bishop died without any religious comforts and his body was not blessed. Because of the news blackout surrounding his case and concerns about his health rumours about his death had already appeared in September...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Just about time to learn which of the two parties controls the Whitehouse for the next 4 years. My money is still on George, but I'd like to remake the case that I started a few days ago. The case for you and me. The case that proves it's even more important to elect your Congress, than it is your President., I've heard a lot of people, for decades, say "well for one thing the President gets to appoint the judges." Just in case you haven't noticed, this Republican President has had NO success in appointing a single judge with...

Clark camp backs off abortion statementBy GIL BLISS Sunday News Correspondent MILFORD — Pancakes and politics helped warm the frigid air yesterday morning as retired four-star Gen. Wesley Clark spoke to an adoring packed house at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post. Outside the breakfast, Clark responded to criticism in an editorial last week in The Union Leader about the abortion rights issue that came following a midweek meeting with editorial staff. In that meeting, Clark said he would not appoint a pro-life federal judge and that the government should not impinge on a woman’s decision to have an abortion,...

MILWAUKEE, WI (Talon News) -- According to a number of Republican insiders and a prominent Milwaukee radio talk show host, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Diane Sykes is going to be President Bush's nominee for a vacant seat on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. Mark Belling, Milwaukee's top talk show host and a regular fill-in for Rush Limbaugh's national radio show, revealed on his Monday afternoon talk show that his sources in the Republican Party confirmed the selection of Sykes. Sykes was one of four finalists recommended by the Federal Nominating Commission of the State Bar of...

Judicial Appointments, Litmus Tests, Article VI, and Torcaso (need your opinions here)   I’m sure that I’m not the first to come up with this, but I have a legal theory that I would like to run by my fellow FReepers. Your opinion is invited.   Article VI of the Constitution reads, in relevant part, “. . . no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”   In Torcaso v. Watkins, the Supreme Court stated:   “We repeat and again reaffirm that neither a State nor the...